I really think that the Salamander should deal some physical damage with its fireballs. Even if it’s just a little.

From a gameplay perspective, this hulking turret-lizard poses zero threat if you just chug a fire resistance potion. You can’t really threaten your friends with it either because it’s so trivial to get fire resistance. And you can’t even fight the mobs in the nether where you probably tamed it.

From a lore perspective, how do the giant salamanders protect their cowardly young from predators if everything in the Nether is immune to their fireballs? Why does this beast with an elaborate organic evolved ovipositor shoot balls of molten rock hard enough to catch things on fire, but not hard enough that the molten rock itself packs a punch?